Israeli army strikes targets in Lebanon and Yemen

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The Israeli military says dozens of its planes struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to a recent attack on Israel.

The army says it targeted power plants and port facilities in the city of Hodeidah.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said at least four people were killed and 33 others injured.

Speaking to military personnel in Tel Aviv, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes were “impressive.”

He also recalled that Israel would respond to any attack.

“We have no interest in expanding the war, we have no interest in looking for other fronts, but if someone attacks Israel, as the Houthis have done recently with missiles and throughout the war with cruise missiles and drones, whoever carries out such an attack, we will settle their score and we know how to do it” he said.

In a statement, the Houthis said they had taken precautionary measures and that Israeli strikes would not end attacks on sea routes and on Israel.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived on a flight from the United States.

Since November, the group has regularly targeted vessels in the Red Sea that it believes are linked to Israel, although many of the vessels targeted and hit have nothing to do with that country.

The Houthi media office said the Israeli strikes also hit the port of Rass Issa as well as two power plants in Hodeidah, which is a stronghold of the Iran-backed rebels.

“Anyone who harms or attempts to harm the citizens of the State of Israel, we will hit him. We will implement all necessary measures with all the capabilities we have, and we have many other capabilities to deepen and expand the attack” said Maj. Gen. Tom Bar, commander of the Israeli Air Force.

Strikes against Hezbollah continue in Lebanon

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, at least 24 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes that hit two adjacent buildings near the town of Sidonin the southwest of the country.

Sunday’s back-to-back strikes hit the Ain el-Delb area and Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 29 people were injured.

Israeli airstrikes intensified on Sunday in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region, with local media reporting incessant strikes throughout the day.

The interim Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikatisaid the country’s cash-strapped government was struggling to cope with the growing number of displaced people, which he estimated could amount to “a million people”.

“IThere are 772 shelters where 118,000 people have been housed since the day before yesterday. These 118,000 people have their basic needs met. Shelter, basic necessities, food and everything in between. But the number of displaced people is estimated to be much higher than this figure” he said.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost daily since the Gaza war began in October, displacing tens of thousands of people across the border.

Strikes inside Lebanon have intensified in the past week, particularly following the assassination on Friday of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in his bunker in the southern suburbs of the capital, Beirut.

Speaking to reporters on his flight from Belgium to Italy, Pope Francis suggested that Israel’s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon were “immoral” and disproportionatebelieving that his military domination exceeded the rules of war.

Pope Francis did not mention Israel by name and said he was speaking in general terms, but he added that “defense must always be proportional to attack“.

“When there is something disproportionate, we can see a tendency towards domination that goes beyond morality. A country that does these things with its force – any country, I mean – that does these things in such an exaggerated way, these are immoral actions” he said.